Rosko (Bill Mercer) WNEW-FM November 13, 1967 (0:59:10)

… . . . same as chasin’ the rabbit . . . …

Even if you have no interest in unscoped airchecks, listen to the first five minutes or so…. Rosko’s monologue following White Rabbit is what it was all about. This legendary radio talent passed away on August 1, 2000.
Contributor Dave Saviet sent this to me as Rosko, WNEW-FM, 1967. That’s all. Portions offer fidelity much better than even a studio recording from the time, so let’s assume that some of this has been re-constructed for our enjoyment.

Now, Rosko left WOR-FM on October 2, 1967, and he promotes a Carnegie Hall concert on Thanksgiving Eve, so this show from November 13, 1967 must have been one of his first on WNEW-FM. Rosko didn’t like the WOR-FM format, and what he wanted to do, apparently, was play a lot of the very coolest music of the day, with very little formatic structure or spoken contributions on his part — after he said what he had to say, of course.

I can’t imagine a better “image” exhibit for the Fall following the Summer Of Love. This is flat out emerging Album Oriented Radio and a few selections won’t be familiar to Top 40 listeners. Who voices that Marine spot? Sounds like a famous NY voice. And the NAB Who Listens To Radio spot begs the question: Is 150 million people less or more than those who are listening in 2010?

Welcome to the new ReelRadio!

This site is now operated by the North Carolina Broadcast History Museum. 

We want to thank the board of ReelRadio, Inc. for their stewardship since the passing of the founder Richard Irwin in 2018.  It has not been easy and they have maintained the exhibits for future generations to enjoy.

I met Richard Irwin, aka Uncle Ricky, when we were freshmen at East Carolina University.  We both had worked at local stations in our hometowns.  No one was more passionate about radio, especially Top 40 radio, than my friend Richard. 

Our goals with this site are to preserve the exhibits and make them available free of charge for people to enjoy.  Over time, we hope to add some airchecks to the site.  This will not happen immediately.  Time and resources will determine the future of new exhibits. 

Many thanks to the web folks at the Beasley Media Group for countless hours of work.  Again thanks to the board members of ReelRadio, Inc. for their faith in us. 

Richard Irwin’s hope was that his site would live on long after his passing. He said, “I hope REELRADIO will survive as my contribution to the ‘radio business’. The business is allowed to forget me, but the business should never forget the great era of radio that we celebrate here”.

We remember Richard and we thank him. If you enjoy this new site, we would appreciate a contribution. We hope you enjoy the new ReelRadio!

Carl Davis
Trustee
North Carolina Broadcast History Museum